THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
13NOVEMBER 2016
By
the time Saint Luke had recorded these words of Jesus, the reality he describes
had already happened. The Romans had
torn down the Temple when they destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. There was not one stone upon another in that
magnificent House of God. All that was
left of Judaism were the scrolls that contained the Word of God. But, as those words were proclaimed in
synagogues, the followers of Jesus were thrown out, and those who claimed
Christ as their Savior were being persecuted.
In the wake of destruction and chaos, many of them were confused,
because the Lord had not come again. To
add to the confusion, there were some who were claiming that Christ had already
returned in glory.
When Jesus
speaks through the Gospel of Luke to his followers in the first century, he
also speaks to us in the 21st century. He speaks to us at the conclusion of a long
and bitter political campaign that divided families and friendships. He speaks to us as we face the threats of
terrorism and hatred. He warns us that
those most precious possessions of our lives will not last. He says the same thing to us that he had said
to them. Don’t worry about what we
should say. Trust that the Lord will
continue to be the source of our strength and hope. Continue to persevere in faith, allowing our
actions to speak stronger than our words.
That is the
same advice that Saint Paul gives to the Thessalonians. Some of the members of that community had
quit their jobs, because they were convinced that they were already living in
the end times. In their idleness, they
were busy talking about everyone else.
Paul tells them to get back to work, because they were a burden on the
rest of the Christian community. He
seems to be bragging when he tells them to do what he did. But, in fact, he is simply reminding them
that his hard work brought the Gospel to them in the first place, and that they
need to continue the hard work of making a living and bringing it to others.
The Church
wisely presents readings like these to us every year in November, as we come to
the end of the Liturgical Year. It may
be disturbing to be reminded of the end of the world and the end of our
lives. But, it is also good news. In praying for our deceased loved ones, we
pray that the fire of God’s love will burn away whatever separates them from
God and the Communion of Saints. We pray
that those who surround the throne of God and allow the fire of God’s love to
shine through them will intercede for us.
In being reminded of our own mortality and the certainty of the end in
each of our lives, the Word of God invites us to submit whatever priorities
keep us from loving God and one another to the fire of God’s love.
In reading the
Gospel about the beauty of the temple, my mind turned to the beauty of our new
church. The contractors are working hard
for the dedication on March 25. As you
can see from the completed outside, it will be a beautiful and fitting temple
for our parish. Even though we are
careful to build it solidly and carefully, we can never predict how long this
physical structure will last. Even
though we hope it will serve this parish for many years, the building of that
church reminds us that we are living stones, being formed into a beautiful
structure that will endure beyond death and beyond the end of the world. With that in mind, it is time to renew our
faith in Jesus Christ, work for the sake of the Kingdom of God in humble
service, and persevere in holding fast to those realities that cannot be
destroyed.
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